1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sloping roofs and upright sidewalls of the type having horizontal rows of wooden covering elements applied in overlapping courses.
2. Prior Art
It is known to apply generally rectangular wood shakes in overlapping courses to form the roof of a building structure. The adjacent sides of adjacent shakes in a course are always spaced apart slightly to enable expansion of the shakes transversely of the grain resulting from changes in moisture content and/or temperature without buckling.
Strips of building felt under the shakes of one course may cover the tip portions of the shakes of the next lower course. Nevertheless, rain or snow may be blown upward through the spaces between adjacent shakes and beneath the felt strips, which results in leaks. In addition, in case of a roof fire, air circulates readily between the shakes increasing the rate at which the fire spreads. As evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,664,081 and Re 27,574, the problem of blowback of rain and snow previously has been recognized, and it has been proposed to apply a furring strip adjacent to the upper edge of each course of shakes.
Multipiece shingle panels are known utilizing an elongated backing board to which a course of shingles is applied. In the panel disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,440,777 a sheet of waterproof material, an underlayer course of shingles and a face course of shakes are secured to an elongated "base strip" which can be plywood. In the panel disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,068,920, shakes are laid over a veneer strip which, in turn is laid over a course of shingles.